Annekatrin Hoppe

Promoting personal resources and reducing exhaustion through positive work reflection among caregivers

The aim of this study was to test the effects of a daily positive work reflection intervention on fostering personal resources (i.e., hope and optimism) and decreasing exhaustion (i.e., emotional exhaustion and fatigue) among caregivers for the elderly and caregivers who provide services at patients’ homes. Using an intervention/waitlist control group design, 46 caregivers in an intervention group were compared with 44 caregivers in a control group at 3 points of measurement: pre-intervention, post-intervention, and at a 2-week follow-up. The results show that emotional exhaustion and fatigue were reduced for the intervention group. Primarily, caregivers with a high need for recovery at baseline benefited from the intervention. The results reveal no intervention effects for personal resources; however, they reveal a trend that the intervention led to an increase in hope and optimism among caregivers with a high need for recovery. Overall, the findings show that caregivers benefit from a daily positive work reflection intervention, particularly when their baseline levels of resources and well-being are low.

Time pressure with state vigour and state absorption: are they non-linearly related?

ABSTRACT On the basis of activation theory and the challenge-hindrance demands model, this study was conducted to clarify the functional form (linear vs. curvilinear) of the within-persons relations of time pressure with vigour and absorption. Further, we investigated whether these relations would be moderated by time-varying job control. A total of 52 full-time employees (44% female) participated in the study, which included two assessments per day over the course of 2 work weeks. Our analyses confirmed an inverted U-shaped within-persons association between state time pressure and state vigour and a moderator effect of job control on the curvilinear relation. By contrast, state time pressure and state absorption displayed only a positive linear relation. This study demonstrates that within-persons high levels of time pressure may impair employees’ energy levels but still promote their absorption at work.

Energizing respites from work: a randomized controlled study on respite interventions

ABSTRACT Increasing and new work demands drain employees’ energy resources at work. This 4-week longitudinal field experiment investigated the energizing potential of a respite intervention conducted at the workplace (either a simulated savouring nature intervention or a progressive muscle relaxation intervention). First, growth modelling analyses confirmed a linear trend for the growth of vigour and decline in fatigue across the days of the intervention group, indicating a typical upward resource trajectory. No changes appeared in the control group. Mediation analyses indicated that repeatedly engaging in a daily respite intervention influenced more stable energy levels after the intervention period indirectly through the immediate changes in daily energy levels during the intervention period. Findings suggest that, in some cases, respite interventions may present a useful tool to replenish and build energy resources at work. Implications for using respite intervention in organizational research and practice are discussed.

Challenge and threat emotions as antecedents of recovery experiences: findings from a diary study with blue-collar workers

The aim of this study was (1) to investigate whether threat (e.g., anxiety, fear) and challenge (e.g., confidence, excitement) emotions that employees experience before work while thinking about the upcoming workday predict their recovery experiences (i.e., psychological detachment, relaxation, mastery, and control) after work and (2) to explore the moderating role of job control on the effect of threat and challenge emotions on recovery experiences. For two to four weeks, 57 blue-collar workers at an airport’s hub station completed a diary. Multilevel analyses (N = 1104) reveal that threat emotions in the morning decrease psychological detachment and relaxation after work. Job control buffers this negative effect. Furthermore, challenge emotions in the morning boost mastery after work. Next, when employees have low job control, challenge emotions also boost the recovery experience control. Practical implications and the need for future studies to examine more fine-grained mechanisms for better understanding how threat and challenge emotions experienced before starting work affect recovery experiences after work are discussed.

Der EngAGE-Coach: Eine Online-Intervention zur Förderung von Arbeitsgestaltungs- und Gesundheitskompetenz

Die Verbreitung individualisierter Arbeitsformen stellt Unternehmen vor eine besondere Herausforderung, da diese Arbeitenden mit bestehenden Masnahmen betrieblicher Gesundheitsforderung schwer oder nicht zu erreichen sind. So sind neue Wege zu beschreiten, um Kompetenzen fur die selbststandige Gestaltung gesundheitsforderlicher Arbeit zu entwickeln. Der EngAGE-Coach ist eine Online-Intervention, mit deren Hilfe Selbststandige und Beschaftigte mit individualisierten Arbeitsformen Kompetenzen fur eine effektive und gesundheitsforderliche Arbeits- und Freizeitgestaltung erlangen. Das Online-Instrument ist in drei Module aufgeteilt: „Meine Arbeit“ thematisiert die Gestaltung der eigenen Arbeitsaufgaben/-situation und die ergonomische Gestaltung mobiler Arbeitsplatze; „Mein berufliches Umfeld“ zeigt Strategien auf, das eigene Netzwerk und soziale Unterstutzung am Arbeitsplatz zu aktivieren; „Meine freie Zeit“ leitet dazu an, Erholungsstrategien und -kompetenzen zu verbessern.

Stress und Gesundheit in der interkulturellen Arbeitswelt

In den Medien wurde in der Vergangenheit mehrfach uber Suizid bei chinesischen Beschaftigten als Reaktion auf belastende Arbeits- und Lebensbedingungen berichtet. Nun liegt es nahe anzunehmen, dass solche extremen Folgen von Arbeitsbelastungen in Europa nicht zu erwarten seien, da unsere Arbeitswelt nicht mit China zu vergleichen sei. Meldungen uber France Telecom erweisen das Gegenteil.

Only reappraisers profit from reappraisal instructions: Effects of instructed and habitual reappraisal on stress responses during interpersonal conflicts

Conflicts are an undesirable yet common aspect of daily interactions with wide-ranging negative consequences. The present research aimed to examine the buffering effect of experimentally instructed reappraisal on self-reported, physiological and behavioral stress indices during interpersonal conflicts, taking into account habitual emotion regulation strategies. For this, 145 participants experienced a standardized laboratory conflict with the instruction to either reappraise (n = 48), to suppress (n = 50), or with no instruction (n = 47) while cardiovascular and neuroendocrine measures were taken. Participants were allowed to eat sweet and salty snacks during the conflict situation. Prior to as well as after the conflict, participants reported on their subjective stress level. Reappraisal instructions were only effective for high habitual reappraisers who exhibited lower cardiovascular and cortisol reactivity and demonstrated fewer snack-eating behaviors under reappraisal instructions than under suppression or no instructions. The opposite pattern emerged for low habitual reappraisers. Neither experimentally instructed nor habitual reappraisal by itself reduced the negative effects of conflicts. Our findings complement the literature on the diverging effects of instructed reappraisal in tense social interactions.

Analysing Physiology of Interpersonal Conflicts Using a Wrist Device

We present a study in which 59 participants logged their interpersonal conflicts while wearing an Empatica E4 wristband. They marked the beginnings and endings of the conflicts, as well as their intensity. In this paper, the dataset is described and a preliminary analysis is performed. We describe data segmentation and feature calculation process. Next, the interrelationships between the features and labels are explored. A logistic regression model for conflict recognition was built and significant features were selected. Finally, we constructed a machine learning model and proposed how to improve it.

Wie wirksam sind Online-Interventionen? Evaluation des Moduls „Meine Freie Zeit“ des EngAGE-Coaches

Durch die Digitalisierung der Arbeitswelt konnen Beschaftigte ihre Arbeitszeiten und -orte zunehmend selbst wahlen. Dies fuhrt zu verschwimmenden Grenzen zwischen Arbeit und Freizeit. Das Modul „Meine Freie Zeit“ des EngAGE-Coaches soll Beschaftigten helfen, ihre Erholungskompetenzen zu starken. Anhand von Ubungen in den Bereichen „Freiraume schaffen“, „Entspannen und Geniesen“ und „Positives Denken“ konnen sie Wissen uber Erholungsprozesse erwerben, die eigenen Erholungszeiten reflektieren und Erholungsstrategien anwenden. Das Modul wurde mit 126 Beschaftigten einer Organisation in einem Interventions-Kontrollgruppen-Design evaluiert. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die dreiwochige Nutzung des Online-Coaches das Abschalten von der Arbeit, Entspannung sowie Optimismus fordert. Die Prozessevaluation gibt Hinweise fur die erfolgreiche Implementierung. Zusammenfassend zeigt sich, dass das Modul eine effektive Erganzung zu bestehenden Masnahmen der betrieblichen Gesundheitsforderung ist.

Gestaltungskompetenz – ein grundlegendes Konzept in der veränderten Arbeitswelt

Die moderne Arbeitswelt ist fur viele Beschaftigte zunehmend gepragt durch flexiblere Arbeitsformen, Eigenverantwortung und Selbstorganisation: Die Arbeitenden konnen und mussen eine aktivere Rolle bei der Gestaltung ihrer Arbeit ubernehmen. Dies betrifft die Strukturierung ihrer Arbeitsaufgaben, -orte und -zeiten, aber auch die Beziehung zu den anderen Lebensbereichen, die erforderliche Regeneration und Forderung der eigenen Gesundheit. Die Gestaltungskompetenzen, die hierfur notig sind, und deren Forderung sind das Thema dieses Bandes. Grundlage hierfur sind die Forschungsarbeiten und praktischen Erfahrungen aus den vier Verbundprojekten (PM-Kompare, EngAGE, Resilire und LerndA), die im Rahmen der Bekanntmachung „Betriebliches Kompetenzmanagement im demografischen Wandel“ durch das Bundesministerium fur Bildung und Forschung (BMBF) gefordert werden.